US tourism

It's always difficult to predict how world politics will influence the general public's view.
I'm in England and know one or two friends who have planned visits to the US and they have given no indication that current events will make them consider cancelling their trips.
Yes there are concerns. That's to be expected and we have to see how relationships develop in the coming months.
But I don't think that politics will necessarily play a part unless they impact negatively on costs of holidays in the US.
Air fares and accommodation represent the biggest spend. However Theme Park Park tickets and other attraction prices across the US could be affected. Unlikely as it may be , any targetted tariffs ( tourist taxes ) levied on entrance fees for all non-US residents would almost certainly impact on the overall cost.
Those combined factors could easily have an impact. Let's hope for the best though.

I did read somewhere that Florida is looking to get rid of property taxes and instead have tourists make up the difference in the state revenue and budget. Not sure how they would do that, I guess higher taxes on hotels maybe, but that could have a significant affect on tourism in Orlando with the already high prices.

Some prices in Florida are simply insane. Really old hotels or condos on the beach at $750 a night. I can somewhat understand prices at theme parks with tons of amenities, but some of these tourist trap locations are nuts. I cannot imagine that increasing these prices with an economic downturn will be anything but difficult for the overall bottom line. Of course you can find some decent prices, and I pay all my theme park stays with points.

Well, Florida is run by a complete imbecile and there have been major issues that will continue. You can’t just take away property taxes and hope new revenue will replace those monies in the Budget.

Just look at how it is almost impossible to get Homeowners insurance and how much it costs there.

Overtaxing the tourists will destroy most places in Florida with the exception of Orlando because of new parks like Epic. We went on vacation and one year I made a spread sheet of all the taxes I had to pay on a 7-day Orlando trip.

I posted it here years ago with every Tax paid. The total was about $240. Buy a beer Pay tax, Park Pay a tax, buy a pretzel. Pay a Tax… It was truly eye opening. These so called No State Tax states – Tax everything else.

Just Look at what the clowns are currently doing to your 401k oops I mean 201K. The tariff tantrum is going to destroy many things in mostly Red states. (Yes, I made this political because it needs to be).

Prices on everything will skyrocket.

@ Brian - Clutch my pearls, there are taxes in Florida. You do realize there are sales taxes in every state, correct? So, that beer and pretzel at Disney World is taxed, just as it is in say Times Square. Let's compare some taxes in Orlando, FL (red state) and NYC (blue state) and shall we?? Let's focus on the main ones that tourists would pay (lodging and sales), but for fun let's also include what a resident would pay in income taxes...

Let's compare FL vs. NYC shall we?

Orlando:
Sales Tax: 6.5%
Resort Tax: 6%
Total: 12.5%

New York City:
Hotel Room Occupancy Tax: 5.875%
Hotel Unit Fee: $1.50 per unit per day
Total: 14.875%

Orlando is lower.

The base state sales tax rate in Florida is 6%, but since the city-specific tax rate is 0% and the Orange County tax rate is 0.5%, the minimum sales tax rate for Orlando is 6.5%.

NYC sales tax and a 4% NY State sales tax. The City Sales Tax rate is 4.5%, NY State Sales and use tax is 4% and the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District surcharge of 0.375% for a total sales and use tax of 8.875 percent.

Orlando is lower.

Florida does not have an income tax.

If you make $70,000 a year living in New York as a single filer, you will be taxed $13,698. Your average tax rate is 14.93% and your marginal tax rate is 22%. This marginal tax rate means that your immediate additional income will be taxed at this rate.

Orlando has zero state income tax, and is thus WAYYYYYYYYYYY lower.

One thing is correct is the Florida cost of insurance. The insurance of just some private docks are more than the insurance on everything I own in another state. Of course I don’t have hurricanes where I live, but insurance is certainly very high.

@MLB - Funny how you picked the One highest taxes by State while ignoring other Taxes in Florida. Some counties also charge different taxes in different counties.

I stayed in Lake Buena vista -then in Orlando and one has a county tax and one did not. Overtaxing tourists is not a good thing.

I guess you also ignored the Fact, Most can’t get insurance and if you do the cost will destroy you.

I apologize that you voted for the recent $10 Trillion loss in the Stock markets and finically education is not your strong suit. Oh, I know Florida will now have a Tariff on Tourist.

As I said you can’t take away real estate taxes then think Taxing Tourist more and more and more will make up the Loss or revenue.

Tourist will stop coming. Without Disney and Universal -where would Florida Be?

I'm honestly not sure Orlando will see much of an impact simply due to increase domestic travel because of Epic opening up but there is definitely a big backlash in Canada and a travel boycott which I've never seen this intense.

We had a trip back in February planned which we cancelled and our HHN / Epic trip in October is also not happening. I have 0 interest in going to the US right now and I am far from the only one. Many friends have also cancelled and are re-booking to Asia or Europe instead. Its gotten so bad that Air Canada and Westjet have slashed flights to the US or completely cancelled them from certain cities.

I think the worst hit US cities are the border towns which are seeing dwindling numbers of tourists / shoppers. Yes the US dollar is strong against the CDN dollar but that doesn't explain the massive drop those cities are seeing.

I still hope things can get back to normal but if not I'll take this time to visit other parks around the world.

@Brian - I'll play your game. Let's do Lake Buena Vista, FL and Anaheim, CA... for no particular reason.

Hotels

LBF - 12.5% At Walt Disney World, expect to pay a hotel tax, which includes both county sales tax (6.5% or 7.5% depending on location) and an additional 6% tourism tax, for a total of 12.5% or 13.5% depending on the specific resort location.

Anaheim - 15%

Sales Tax

LBF - 6.5% (Most Disney World restaurants and stores are located in Orange County where the tax rate is 6.5%. Some of the hotels like Disney's All Star Resort are located in Osceola County which has a slightly higher tax rate of 7.5%. You should be safe to assume between 6.5% and 7.5% on all purchases while you are on vacation. )

Anaheim - 7.75%

Which liberal state would you like to compare that actually has a tourism industry? Which one will have a lower tax burden than FL?? It hasn't been CA or NY. What liberal state, that people want to travel to, is lower??? BTW, NO ONE is basing their travel decisions on a sales tax rate. If they were, no one would go to Chicago (another liberal city in a liberal state with higher taxes.)

Thanks Francis.

As an Aussie (and someone who travels quite a bit) I've noted many people losing interest in visiting the US. I'll still visit my brother there next year, but otherwise will shelve any other plans. It's previously been a very welcoming place to visit, but now there appears to be a hostility towards any foreigners, with people getting trapped at the border and denied entry for little to no reason plus the obvious economic aggression.

I hope some common sense prevails but I unfortunately don't see that occurring anytime soon.

Elbows up.

Every US locale that relies heavily on tourist dollars does this. I don't think Orlando is any more culpable than any other jurisdiction. I live in the DC region, and there are many stupid taxes applied on various things like the random "meals taxes" in Virginia that are inconsistent (based on city/county - some places have them while other don't and the percentages are never the same from place to place) and DC's insane 10% alcohol tax. I don't think what's happening in Florida is any different than what happens everywhere else in the world (even Europe has various taxes/fees levied on tourists like the new ETA required to enter the UK).

Everyone wants their pound of flesh, and you either pay it as a resident of a city/county/state/country and/or you pay it as a a visitor. What bothers me more than anything else is the proliferation of "micro-transactions" that nickel and dime you everywhere. From service fees at restaurants (in lieu of or in addition to tips) to credit card processing charges to random surcharges (like Sea World/United Parks) to taxes it becomes "death by a thousand cuts", because the customer ultimately never knows what the bottom line price is for anything anymore. These charges in many cases are usually insignificant enough to where you will pay them because they're not levied until you reach the cash register or are sitting on the checkout screen with a clock ticking to delete your order if it's not completed.

Welcome to the world in the 21st Century. You either need to be a billionaire where this stuff doesn't impact you, or have unlimited patience and free time to know what you're going to be charged for anything.

Hi Russell,
I would say that the US is quite unique in how these extra taxes and fees get charged on top of the advertised price. In Australia the price advertised is the price paid (and don't get me started on tipping) - although fees to use credit cards aren't uncommon. In Europe usually the taxes are included either in the advertised price or when booking I've found.

As for the ETA, I'm pretty sure that's just a response to the US ESTA and Canadian ETA. My assumption is that it's more a processing fee for visa exemption, although I'm sure they do make a little profit on top.

@MLB - New Hampshire that is called for the win.

Where I live, you don’t get charged a Tax for buying a damn Pretzel at a park, Or a Beer or tax at a parking garage.

Florida will get less and Less folks visiting. Which is what this Tread is about.

You can’t answer a simple line - Without Disney and Universal - where would Florida Be? Orange Groves and Horse poop.

The current idiot in charge lost to Disney and Reedy Creek. Now he wants to kill tourism with even more taxes.

We just lost over $10 trillion is stocks. Why?
Lose $10 Trillion to gain a few billion in tariffs. SMOT… Wicked SMOT…

Florida says the have low taxes which is a Lie, They Tax everything. I guess if you live in Florida stay Home, never go anywhere or buy anything ever, you will be ahead.

Read what Frances wrote. They have no interest in visiting the US now.

We have not been back to Florida in Two plus years and don’t plan on it either.
I think we will try Cali or Virginia insterd...

"We have not been back to Florida in Two plus years and don’t plan on it either.
I think we will try Cali or Virginia insterd..."

That's kinda funny, because California has as many ridiculous taxes as Florida, including one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation. In order to rent a car at LAX, you can pay up to $10 extra a day for the "airport concession fee". In Virginia, we have little towns in the middle of nowhere (mostly along interstate corridors) that charge 2-5% extra (on top of the state's 6% sales tax) for any prepared foods - aka the "meals tax". James City County, where BGW is located, has additional amusement taxes levied on virtually everything sold in the park, and that doesn't even include the park's "because we can" surcharge on ALL transactions that are conveniently not subject to any tax (i.e. pure profit for the park). A $14 menu-priced beer at the park will set you back $18 after all is said an done.

Just going to some other location won't free you from all these nuisance fees/charges.

I have to admit that taxes play no part in my decision to travel somewhere. There's taxes and hidden fees almost everywhere even in Europe! Canada also has destination marketing fees applied to hotels so even if Florida increase their taxes it wouldn't play a part in my decision to visit or not. What does play a part though is the threat on our sovereignty and general disrespect Canada has been getting.

Having been coming over to Orlando from England since 1989 and annually from 2005-2022, sometimes twice per year, I have no short-term plans to visit. Not because of politics. Not because of taxes. But because of the exchange rate. In 2008 it was $2 to the £, for many years after it ranged between $1.70-1.60 to the £, now you are lucky to get $1.20 to the £. This makes everything so much more expensive. Add in the price hikes post Covid on everything plus theme park admission, it has become a very expensive holiday where I now don't believe I get value for money. First timers from Great Britain won't be able to compare but I suspect those who can will consider very carefully whether to come back until the £ strengthens.

Brian - First, I picked the top three states for tourism (CA, FL, and NY). You picked New Hampshire "for the win," which is 48th! Can you tell me the major theme parks that are located in NH??

I love how I have illustrated that you're wrong, so you change the subject to the stock market or voting or anything else that isn't your initial point that you made a spreadsheet about the taxes you paid. Ummm...sure you did.

I'd also like to point out that NH is not a liberal state. Current Gov is an R, former Governor also an R. The State Senate is a super majority R (16-8) and the House is also R (222-178.) Take you L, walk away, this just wasn't your day.

Tourism is being hit by the current situation.
The president is an unhinged lunatic, sociopath, sexual predator, and criminal.
The governor doesn't understand how many major things work in this state and has a weird obsession with transvestites.
Any more obvious things we can bring up here?

Also there is zero chance Florida can sustain itself with zero property tax and zero income tax. It's not going to happen and the only reason the governor is even bringing it up is because his wife is going to run in a gubernatorial primary against someone else that is endorsed by Donald Trump.

NEW Hampshire is Blue will always be Blue.

48th is one of the Best - 50th is the Best - The list you looked at and misinterpreted are worst to best. Not Best being #1...

The People of NE Vote for the Best qualified - Not Party affiliation.

Massachusetts just had a GOP governor for 8 years. Unlike the Kool aid drinking Red States who can only vote for whatever GOP clown runs.

And Yes that was for the Win Sorry for your loss. You asked for a Blue No state tax where they don't Tax everything and I gave it to you.

There is a Lovely Park called Canobie Lake Park - Not a Major Theme Park but a beautiful well run local park.

So pay your overtaxed pretzels in Florida and get over your unintelligent mind. Just keep getting pissed on as the tell you it's raining.

I was hoping for a challenge but you failed and frankly I am bored.

Brian - You're comments are just plain ignorant of facts. Kentucky (a ruby red state has a D Gov.), Kansas (also ruby red and has a D Gov), and Louisiana (until last year had a D Gov.) disprove your weak put down of red states. NH is "blue" is disproved by the fact that it is considered a purple/swing state by actual election experts. It is also further disproved by the fact that the Rs have the trifecta and a supermajority in the State Senate.

Your moronic point about sales taxes and what you paid on vacation is further disproven by that fact that almost no one vacations in NH, which is illustrated by the fact of where they rank in tourism visitors. I know facts are difficult for liberals, but those are the facts. Oh, and one more thing... Florida is ranked better than NH in the total tax burden rankings.

The 10 best states in this year’s Index are:

Wyoming - R
South Dakota - R
Alaska - R (but coalition governments in the legislature are often formed)
Florida - R
Montana - R
New Hampshire - PURPLE
Texas - R
Tennessee - R
North Dakota -R
Indiana - R

Just like a liberal to whine when they are proven demonstrably wrong.

This is too easy - Challenge me already

Awwww Little Baby MLB thinks he won… HAHAHHA..

Sorry but It’s Over, Red States are the Biggest welfare states that Overtax and lie. They are the Lowest in Education and MLB just proved it. Just keep drinking that Kool aid and wearing a Red Hat made in Chiner.

The Dumb GOP:

Trump got the Tariffs Dumb Idea from Peter Navarro who wrote a book where he quotes Ron Vara many times, who is actually Peter Navarro himself.

$11 trillion wiped out in a week.

Big Yawn....

And Florida is ranked worse than NH in the total tax burden rankings.

Sorry, Brian, but bluster doesn't win the argument. MLB handed you your rear end.

But I do have to compliment you, 75 days before your TDS kicked in. There's only 1386 left to go. You can do it.

Aside from your TDS, I think you're also getting a complex about Ron DeSantis. He's actually a pretty good governor aside from his squabbles with Disney which pretty much added up to a big nothing sandwich.

Insurance is affordable in Florida as long as you're buying a newer home that meets the latest hurricane codes. I'm buying a new house within 15 miles of the Atlantic Ocean that is costing me only a quarter of the insurance on my old house. That's just life in Hurricane Alley. And I've also read recently that some insurers are leaving California due to the recent problem with wildfires. Should we blame Gavin Newsom for that situation?

We have way too much information today, and too many people trying to form our opinions. Kick back, enjoy life, and do what you want no matter who occupies the White House or controls Congress or governs the State of Florida. To do less because you are outraged over some situation in life that you have absolutely no control over is to cheat yourself of happiness.

Tim Please Give it a rest - Trumpleforeskin has wiped $11 trillion from the markets based off a book where a Guy quotes himself about Tariffs lies.
I wish I could make this up but I can't. It is all True.

And MLB won nothing - Zero facts - made up numbers while wearing clown shoes.

Florida is taxed heavily on everything everyday, this much is True. When you have to pay a tax on a damn Pretzel at a Park after just being taxed on parking after being taxed simple driving on a road. It is overtaxed. The Tourist like me are tired of it.

The markets Predict the next 6 to 12 months and they have spoken.

Still waiting for the war in Ukraine to end within the first 24 hours, or the No tax on Tips, or no tax on SS payments, or The concept of a Plan for Heath care. None of it will happen. It was all a lie. Just like Taxes being low in Florida, just another lie. And it has been proven.

Weird How you guys love Florida Especially Orlando but never give Buddy Dye any credit. Check out his party affiliation....

I am like Capt. America - I can do this all day.

I was mentally planning a 2026 Orlando trip. It's now been replaced with a booked cruise to Iceland. Hopefully things get better before Universal UK is a thing, as I'd rather not have to wait until then.

@Chad - Iceland is beautiful you'll love it! I'm afraid I'm on the same boat here and probably won't see Epic until 2029 now :(

Well gentlemen, your perception is your reality, and I won't argue with that.

But isn't Donald Trump amazing? With a few outrageous statements he can load some of you in the DeLorean time machine (should we call it the Trumplorean?) and take you back to where you were 5 years ago. The same silly statements and the same silly insults from the usual suspects.

Please don't stay away too long. As a Florida resident, I need your tourist taxes so my property taxes can go as low as my income tax.

BTW Chad, I'm jealous. Iceland has been on my bucket list for years. I hope you enjoy it.

Brian - You're like a capuchin monkey with ADD that didn't take its Ritalin with the way you jump topics. Is your complaint sales taxes (as it was in your first post), or Trump, overall taxes, the war in Ukraine (not sure how that one ended up on a tourism website, but OK), or praise for Buddy Dyer (his name is actually Buddy Dyer, but no one makes a tourism decision based on the party affiliation of the Mayor of an adjacent city)?

So, which fact was made up? The political make up of the states is 100% accurate, you can look it up. I know facts can be difficult for you, so here is a handy little website that illustrates you are wrong. https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition - NCSL is a non partisan organization. And boy oh boy, NH is sure the reddest "blue" state I've ever seen. Kelly Ayotte won 53.6% to 44.3%. That's a nearly 10% victory in a "blue" state. At the same time Rs have a supermajority in the State Senate and control over the House. Voting for a D president doesn't make the state blue, no matter what the talking heads on MSNBC tell you.

You've changed your argument so many times on the taxes issue that frankly it would take hours to illustrate all of the ways that you are wrong. However, I provided sales and room tax rates for the top three tourism destinations in the US: Lake Buena Vista FL (based on your post) vs. NY, NY vs. Anaheim, CA. Your counter was New Hampshire!?!? Yeah, New Hampshire is a hot bed of tourism activity! Then you want to talk about overall tax burden, fair... as I illustrated, Red states have less tax burden than Blue states and you counter with the price of pretzels and the war in Ukraine. Topic jumping when you can't win a point on the first sets of topics.

If the sales tax burden is going to make you go broke, don't go to theme parks in CA, IL (SFGA), VA, etc..

Finally, you keep making this political, and wanting to wrap Trump into this conversation. I am not a Trump voter. My favorite Governor is Governor Shapiro. But, I will say this, even if I don't like the decisions that are being made by Trump, at least I know who is making the decisions, unlike the previous dementia patient that occupied the White House and had interns running the country.

I can smell the desperation in your replies. Are you one of those guys who believe the Prince of Nigeria emails and click on it to get your millions of dollars.

I can feel your heart pounding as you madly smash the keyboard in confusion.

There are three types of People in the world:

Those who know what they don’t Know - Which is me.

Those who don’t know what they don’t know – not a problem to be innocent.

But then there are the MLB (My little brony) types who think they Know but actually, Don’t know. This is the Most dangerous type. They Yell their overbearing opinions even though they are wrong. They have Tariff Tantrums and use word salads. And often referred to as the entitled.

Like a frightened baby they are scared at what they do not understand.

All I know is that no one has ever muttered the phrase Florida Man or put a loofah on their car. I bet you are the Purple and Teal type….

Are obsessed with me. Please stop, it’s weird to be worshiped.

And to quote the Late Great Colonel Sanders - “I’m too drunk to taste this chicken.”

Brain - You are one strange person and ignorant person. Your complete ignorance of pretty much everything is jaw dropping. Hell, even your insults are juvenile and frankly just plain dumb.

Is this “table bashing” the normal standard of discourse? Seems things have changed from the old TPA days.

Nah Chad, we get a little rowdy around here sometimes. Twenty years ago, the Discussion Forum could get pretty rough especially when Robert allowed anonymous posters, and TH Creative still had his mojo. Plus, this is just a therapy session for Brian. He's having a rough time right now with his TDS kicking in and he needs a healthy outlet.

I'd say we should be concerned given on verge of a new depression which is going to affect a lot of us. And that includes theme parks big time.

Great, MLB has given up said Uncle and gone back to watching Fox where they tell him his opinions. He is not a freemason and has Zero original thoughts.

I for one fully Support TH Creative and his witty comments....

Hey Tim - I guess you love seeing the Stock market down -$12 Trillion. And that is not to mention the Worlds markets collapse. All for a Wana be King. A 79 year old man who Tariffs ideas come from William McKinley in 1890. And Peter Navarro who authored a book called Death By China where he quotes Ron Vara 15 times, except Ron Vara is Peter Navarro’s made up person.

So let me ask you Timmy – How much money do we have to lose before you open your eyes?

Luckily there is a bill that will take the Tariffs away from the Bozo in the WH and give it back to congress. Actually, Bozo wore less make up.

Will the Speaker have the Guts to bring it to the floor to save us all? Will he kowtow yet again? They keep forgetting they work for us not Him.

This Six Veteran will not sit quietly while guy plays golf while they are bringing home four brave soldiers who died in a training accident. When I served, we lost 13 friends to dumb accidents, yes accidents happen, but to disrespect the fallen to play golf? No thanks, that is not who I am.

Brian - Wow, that was a long and winding journey from your initial BS post about tracking your sales tax expenditures while on vacation. LOL

If you had a wife or significant other (I am pretty sure no one could stand to be with you long-term), I can just imagine this conversation. But you see, no one is dumb enough to track their sales tax expenditures because they are dwarfed by EVERY OTHER EXPENDITURE WHILE ON VACATION.

Other: Hurry, I want to use our extra magic hours to ride 7DMT.

Brian: Hold on, I need to open a spreadsheet to track the 68 cents in sales tax on my cup of coffee.

Other: Why don't you just use the magic band?

Brian: Because I have to track my sales tax expenditures on this vacation.

Other: You're a moron, you realize that no one makes a vacation decision based on the sales tax rate, and FL's sales tax rate is lower than NY or CA. How much time are you going to waste on vacation tracking sales taxes?

Brian: "I can do this all day."

Well Brian, I guess I try to take a Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs approach to life.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, here's the short list:
1. Physiological Needs
2. Safety Needs
3. Love and Belonging
4. Esteem
5. Self Actualization

Most of us on this website, fortunately, are working on Levels 3-5. If you're dealing with issues on Levels 1 and 2, my heart goes out to you. Hang in there.

All of the recent turmoil that we're seeing in the political and economic realms right now is external to this, and we have no control over it, but we do have a great deal of control over our approach to accepting and dealing with events in our life. Fix the things that you can and learn to accept the things that you can't change. Getting torqued up over things that don't really matter only hurts you. (I try to tell that to myself when I drive in the Orlando traffic at rush hour. Not much success, but I try.)

This too shall pass.

I'm kind of with Tim on this. So many things are out of our control and we just have to make the best we can of things.
Grant's original post for this thread quickly lost it's way into politics and I'm as guilty as anyone for that.
Your own Benjamin Franklin wrote that nothing is certain except death and taxes and, boy, was he ever right.

Rob - My family and I just visited your wonderful country in Nov/Dec last year. It was an amazing vacation hitting up Ireland and Scotland as well. Our entire trip was built around my son being a mascot kid for his favorite EPL team, which necessitated a very early train ride to Wolverhampton. There is another thread about the proposed UK Universal park, and I am interested in your thoughts on the Bedford train station's ability to handle an increased demand that will be probably 50X.

The trains were wonderful...right up until post-game where too many people crammed onto too few cars, and not to mention last minute track changes due to the over capacity of the crowds. (Thankfully we purchased reserved seats.) But, I do see that as one under-reported issue as thousands of people stream out of the parks every night. Does the existing infrastructure have the ability to handle that sort of crowd, as many, many of the stations do not have the capacity currently, nor would they have the room to expand. Just saying that there are trains that go to Bedford (and back) from London does not really acknowledge the true issue... a once daily crush of people leaving the park to go back to London (homes or hotels). If that trip is the last thing that people remember, and it is an awful experience, Universal could have an issue not of their own making. (I can say...if we hadn't had reserved seats, it would have been all we would have remembered. And even with reserved seats, it wasn't the best experience.)

My Little Broney – Stop Obsessing over me. This is Strange. I am Aware you are in Awe of me and my masterful take down of you and Old Man Tim.

But Obsessing and making up lines? I know you secretly are in Love with me and Upset that I am married for over 20 years… But I will never be yours.

Move on already – You Lost at New Hampshire.

And I almost never go to Disney..
Universal, so least the the park story correct.

The END.

>Does the existing infrastructure have the ability to handle that sort of crowd, as many, many of the stations do not have the capacity currently, nor would they have the room to expand. Just saying that there are trains that go to Bedford (and back) from London does not really acknowledge the true issue... a once daily crush of people leaving the park to go back to London (homes or hotels).

Per Universal's Public Consultations, the Park's location means that people going to the park will be travelling against the direction of peak flows - Peak is Into London in the Morning, and out of London in the evening. The Demand for the park essentially uses the underultilsed capacity in the system already.

On the policital and mental health and control thing, I will say this.

People might say they want something new, something different, some big change… But what they actually want is for tomorrow to be not that different to yesterday - and that goes double for business.

If things are happening or changing on a whim, or with seemingly no plan, rhyme or reason, that isn’t good for anyone. People get upset, and business pulls back as if they can’t prepare or plan for tomorrow, they can’t run a business. No matter where you stand, what’s been happneing this week benefits noone.

@ MLB

You're right about the lack of transport infrastructure in Bedford as it stands.
I'm not overly familiar with the station but I do know that it wouldn't cope with the expected numbers visiting Universal as it is.
I'm sure that Universal would've looked into this and seen that there are already plans for expansion. Plus the possibilty of using another exisiting station with shuttle links perhaps ?

This is an interesting website to visit regarding the planned Bedford Station expansion :

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/universal-theme-park-for-bedford-would-include-two-railway-stations-80374/

As I understanding it there's two trin lines there and Universal will be building one station, and improving another.

As a UK resident myself and my wife have now ruled out the US as a destination for the forseeable future. You can argue amongst yourselves as much as you want about whether Trump is right or wrong but over here the majority view is that he has managed to destroy the good reputation the US once enjoyed and to be honest the US just doesn't feel like a place we want to go to. I also have to echo the sentiments around the exchange rate. Visiting the US, especially theme parks, is ludicrously expensive and the lack of clarity in pricing (what you see is never what you pay) just adds insult to injury. There's a big old world out there and much as I'd love to visit Epic Universe I suspect I shall have to make do with YouTube....